NBA Hires Convicted Tax Evader to Oversee Referees

NBA Hires Convicted Tax Evader to Oversee Referees

The new director of officials for the NBA is Don Vaden, a former NBA referee who once was convicted, along with seven other referees, of tax evasion. From ESPN.com:

Vaden was ranked among the league’s best referees by the end of his on-court tenure, which ran from 1988-2003. But he was also among eight referees charged with tax evasion in 1998 for downgrading first-grade plane tickets and not reporting the refunded money. He was found guilty and served six months’ of home confinement and two years of probation.

After he retired from working games in 2003, Vaden accepted an off-court position with the league. Although several distinguished referees have recently retired — most notably, Steve Javie, Bob Delaney and Mark Wunderlich — the league named Vaden without interviewing anyone else or conducting an open search for Fryer’s replacement, sources said.

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